Top trust boss backs ‘absence awareness courses’ for parents Courses on impact of persistent absence could help reinforce ‘parent agency’ and reportedly being considered by government
Absence gap for vulnerable children rises Concerning analysis reveals most vulnerable pupils miss up to 4.4 more days of school than their peers
How robots are helping anxious pupils go back to school Schools are now using the AV1 devices as part of their attendance strategy
Covid legacy will ‘damage prospects of a generation’, warn MPs Committee warns pandemic will ‘entrench disadvantage’ without further intervention from government
GPs should help ‘risk-averse’ parents send kids back to school, says Ofsted In evidence to the Education Committee’s persistent absence inquiry, Ofsted said GPs and pharmacies could help parents ‘get the right perspective and balance’
Almost 2 in 5 poorer pupils were persistently absent last year Children eligible for free school meals were more than twice as likely to miss 10 per cent or more sessions
Illness drives stubbornly high persistent absence Around a quarter of pupils have missed 10 per cent or more sessions since September
Evidence not needed for short mental health absence, says DfE Government says GPs are ‘unlikely to be able to offer such evidence to support one-off absences related to mental health’
MPs launch inquiry into persistent school absence Education committee intervenes after persistent absence soared to 23.5 per cent post-pandemic